Pain

I will either be perceived as a wacko or as a masochist. Well, as far as I know, I am neither.

Pain is generally something that scares us : we don't like pain, we try to avoid it. But pain is just like anything that we do not know awfully well : we are scared of things that we don't know. So I am trying to learn a bit about pain, so that it does not scare me anymore. Like Hobbes once said, we are all scared of dying a painful death. And aren't we not?

I am confronting pain in a very Nietzschean way : pain is an obstacle to strength, to our will to power. Therefore, we must learn to understand pain, to confront it : cowering away from pain is such a modern way of doing things.

I am therefore advancing as my theory that pain should be embrassed. I am not talking about cutting one's arm or foot off. No. It is more about getting acquainted to pain : it makes that body stronger and the spirit more...alive! Have you ever seen cancer patients talk about pain? Some of them experience pain EVERY DAY that we do can not experience in a lifetime. Are they weaker for it? NO. You see such strength in their eyes, such determination.

Ok, I may have lost most of you by now - if not all of you. You may see it as the ramblings of a madman (which they may be), but tell me what you think : am I full of shit? do you agree? why?

GuestGuest

Subject: Re: Pain Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:07 pm

tbh i agree with you

for me pain is some kind of sensation, just like being happy, or sad or whatever. it is us who decide what pain is. like for instance, if we relate it with feelings, then people who are ALWAYS happy, forget the true meaning of happiness, and so on. so i guess imo the same applies to pain in a way. the more people get used to pain, the less actual pain they feel. each person responds to it in a different way as well, so i dont think the feeling can be generalized.

though i diddnt understand the part where you said: "Therefore, we must learn to understand pain, to confront it : cowering away from pain is such a modern way of doing things."

Silent_Scream

Number of posts : 44Location : QuébecRegistration date : 2009-09-17

Subject: Re: Pain Sat Dec 12, 2009 12:47 pm

Very interesting perspective.

By ''modern way'' : we have invented so many things so we do not feel pain, to work less hard (prescription drugs, painkillers,etc.). Whenever we experience a little amount of pain, we turn to them.

and SS: yeah, coz in a way, our life would kinda depend on a little tablet or pill that we could probably live without, but instead choose to take it and cause ourselves even MORE trouble than we started with, in one way or the oth

like most people i know end up getting a TINY SYMPTOM of a headache and gulp down 2 tablets of pain killers "just to be on the safe side"

I think we have a very strange relationship with pain. First, lets talk about what "pain" is.

Dictionary.com describes "pain" as the following:

1. physical suffering or distress, as due to injury, illness, etc.2. a distressing sensation in a particular part of the body: a back pain.3. mental or emotional suffering or torment: I am sorry my news causes you such pain.

So we are in agreement that pain is a bad thing. That is why it "scares" us. It is the same for all living things. Pain is our brain telling us that something is wrong and it must be corrected. Once it is corrected, the pain goes away.

I had a recent experience with pain. One day my wisdom tooth started hurting, and it escalated to the point that I was curled on the couch in a ball with tears rolling down my face. I RUSHED to the dentist and he asked me if I wanted him to take it out. I answered calmly "FUCK YES, YOU ASSHOLE!!" and he pulled it out. I'll tell you one thing from that experience: I would avoid that pain again at all costs. Fuck that! I don't feel any more alive after that experience. Not even a little bit. I happily took painkillers to kill that pain and I would again.

thats only true to a certain extent if i cut off your your limbs and cover the wounds so u live... your definatly not stronger after that xD

Edible

Number of posts : 78Location : HappyRegistration date : 2009-03-31

Subject: Re: Pain Thu Jan 21, 2010 5:35 pm

Video game quote time:'What do I care for your suffering? Pain, even agony, is no more than information before the senses, data fed to the computer of the mind. The lesson is simple: you have received the information, now act on it. Take control of the input and you shall become master of the output. Chairman Sheng-ji Yang, "Essays on Mind and Matter"'